Urban Institute Latest Reports
The Urban Institute is a nonprofit nonpartisan policy research and educational organization established to examine the social, economic, and governance problems facing the nation.

• The Impact of Late-Career Health and Employment Shocks on Social Security and Other Wealth
  About one-quarter of workers age 51 to 55 in 1992 developed health-related work limitations and about one-fifth were laid off from their jobs before age 62. Although late-career health and employment shocks often derail retirement savings plans, Social Securitys disability insurance, spouse and survivor benefits, and progressive benefit formula provide important protections. In fact, health shocks increase Social Security's lifetime value, primarily because the systems disability insurance allows some disabled workers to collect benefits before age 62. However, if the systems disability insurance program did not exist, the onset of health-related work limitations would substantially reduce Social Security wealth.
• Federal Housing Subsidies: To Rent or To Own?
  A family's housing can take one of two forms: renting and homeownership. Although both provide shelter, they differ significantly in their implications for asset accumulation. Direct outlays made up 87.1 percent of federal rental-assistance spending in 2006, while tax breaks provided over 98 percent of federal homeownership subsidies. This breakdown reveals that the federal government places a priority on homeownership as opposed to rental housing; however, the distribution of homeownership tax breaks suggests that they provide little benefit to low-income families.
• Tax Considerations in a Universal Pension System (UPS)
  The inadequacy of the current U.S. public and private pension systems may warrant the establishment of a universal pension system (UPS), which would cover all workersfull-time and part-timeand require them to contribute at a level that can help provide them with adequate incomes when they retire. This paper develops options for a system of individual accounts to which, starting in 2007, each employee or self-employed worker would be required to contribute 3 percent of covered payroll (i.e., 3 percent of up to $97,500 in 2007). The UPS we describe would raise the total "replacement rate" for average wage men to 49.0 percent of final wagesprovided Social Security is fixedor 39.8 percent if not
• In Pursuit of Assistance, Children with Disabilities Face Complex, Fragmented Service System
  Seldom do the needs of children with disabilities divide neatly along program lines. Instead, children and their families navigate a large, complex, and fragmented array of programs with inconsistent eligibility standards, application procedures, and program goals. "Meeting the Needs of Children with Disabilities" examines these programs, focusing on the three largestspecial education, Medicaid, and Supplemental Security Incomeand suggests ways to unify them into one system that will provide continuous care and support. Efforts at early intervention and prevention and difficulties caused by programs' funding structures are given particular attention.
• Dire Future for Local Governments If Revenue-Raising Powers Are Not Fixed
  The existence of local governments will be in jeopardy without a significant change in the way they are financed, David Brunori warns in the new edition of his Urban Institute Press book "Local Tax Policy: A Federalist Perspective."
• Baltimore City's High School Reform Initiative
  This report presents findings from the first detailed study of Baltimore's 5 year high school reform. Using administrative data, Urban Institute researchers found that test scores and attendance rates were higher for students in Baltimore's innovation high schools than in the city's comprehensive or newly formed neighborhood high schools. Students in innovation and neighborhood schools also showed more stability in their enrollment than their counterparts in comprehensive schools. These findings remained after controlling for students' backgrounds and previous achievements even though students at innovation schools were more academically advantaged than their peers in other schools prior to entering high school.
• Who Has Insurance and Who Does Not in the District of Columbia?
  DC fares better than the nation as a whole in the share of its population that is uninsured. Lower rates of employer-sponsored coverage are more than offset by higher rates of public coverage. The District's relatively generous Medicaid eligibility standards, and the DC HealthCare Alliance, a locally funded coverage program, contribute to the high share of publicly insured residents. Although all low-income individuals are eligible for either Medicaid or the Alliance, some 66,000 residents remain uninsured. These are among the findings of this data brief on insurance status in DC by age, employment, income, family status, and health status.
• Retaining Older Volunteers Is Key to Meeting Future Volunteer Needs
  The boomers' impending retirement has spurred interest in tapping their productive energies to benefit society. This study examines older adults' decisions to stop or start formal volunteer work. The findings show that older adults usually stick with their original decisions, but more often stop than start volunteering. Volunteers who contribute a lot of hours over many years and who are married to volunteers are less likely to quit. And nonvolunteers are more likely to start volunteering if they have been uninvolved for few years and their spouses volunteer. The results highlight the importance of volunteer retention strategies for nonprofit agencies.
• Volunteer Transitions among Older Americans
  As the nation ages, older adults' volunteer activities are becoming increasingly important This study uses longitudinal data from a nationally representative survey to examine entries into and exits from volunteer activities by adults age 55 to 65. The findings reveal considerable persistence among both volunteers and nonvolunteers; however, older adults are more likely to stop volunteering than to start. Duration and intensity of volunteering, as well as marriage to a volunteer, are strong predictors of continued volunteer activities. And, the time spent away from volunteer activities, as well as marriage to a nonvolunteer decreases the odds of volunteer starts.
• Will Boomer Retirees Form a New Army of Volunteers?
  As the first phalanx of the 76 million-strong baby boom generation begins turning 62 and receiving Social Security benefits January 1, will they create a massive army of willing and able volunteers? Researchers from the Urban Institute's Retirement Project examine this question in three new research briefs.
• Will Retiring Boomers Form a New Army of Volunteers?
  This study looks at older adults retiring between 1996 and 2004 to see who engages in formal volunteering after retirement. The results, based on data from the Health and Retirement Survey, show that while most volunteers acquire the volunteer habit while still working, a significant share begins volunteer work after retirement. Among adults who retire, 45 percent engage in formal volunteer activities even though only 34 percent of these same adults volunteered while working. Since boomer cohorts following this group will be much larger, nonprofit organizations seem destined to benefit from a significant growth in the services of retirees.
• Are We Taking Full Advantage of Older Adults' Potential?
  Staying engaged in work and formal volunteer activities at older ages significantly benefits the well-being of the volunteers, the organizations that count on them, the people served by those organizations, and the economy. This study, based on data from the Health and Retirement Survey, shows that over 10 million healthy older adults with no caregiving responsibilities did not work or volunteer in 2004. About half of these able seniors are under age 75 and 9 out of 10 have prior work experience. Given this untapped potential, shortages of volunteers and workers should prompt employers and nonprofits to court this talent.
• District of Columbia Housing Monitor Summer 2007
  The District of Columbia Housing Monitor provides a quarterly look at the Washington, D.C., housing market, tracking home prices, real estate listings, new construction, and affordable housing. This issue's special section reports on neighborhood-level housing price trends and highlights the continuing strong price growth in neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River.
• Better Workers for Better Jobs : Improving Worker Advancement in the Low-Wage Labor Market
  Low-wage workers in the United State